Passion Puddle
by AuthenticDivine
Summary: [AxC] The legend goes, ‘If a couple from different campuses walk around this pond together three times...' My first GS oneshot. Please read and review!


Hey, guys. I doubt anyone here's seen me before. If you go to my profile, you can tell this is my first fanfic. Anyway, make sure you review and tell me what you think about this. Hopefully it will improve my writing!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed, which is good because otherwise, I'd probably screw up the show so bad with my horrible directing skills and no one would watch it! lol

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Passion Puddle **

The torrential rain poured mightily that night, soaking the girl completely, mere seconds after she stepped out from under the overhang of the bus stop. Her casual outfit of a dark green t-shirt and faded jeans quickly became heavy and her short blonde hair dripped water down her face, irritating her eyes. It dripped down her neck, tickling her in some places. But she didn't care. She was crying right now and that counted as water too, right?

Glancing up to see where she was heading, she found herself walking towards the small pond that was situated near her dorm. Stopping a few feet before the pond, she stared aimlessly at her reflection.

It was obvious to anyone who saw her that Cagalli Yula Attha was not a happy camper that day. And why would she be? She'd just had a fight with her boyfriend. A horrible fight that had included a lot of yelling. And what a time to have a fight too! With what was going on in her life, it was such the wrong time to be fighting with someone she really cared about.

She let out a depressed sigh, stepped back a few feet, planting herself down on the drenched bench, and buried her head in her hands.

Come on_, she thought over and over, tapping her foot impatiently as she glanced out the window from time to time, hoping she would already be there. But she wasn't there. Yet. It was taking too long. The stupid bus driver had decided to take an illegal fifteen-minute break to get a bag of Cheetos. Cheetos! Of all things! Here, Cagalli was impatiently hoping to see her boyfriend again and her bus driver was chomping happily away on his Cheetos. That stupid messy snack. She hoped he got sick later on because of them._

_Then the bus finally pulled into the designated stop area and she flew to the door, waiting for the hiss of the door to sound the opening. _

_As soon as she stepped off, she immediately looked around for him, but after a few seconds, she couldn't seem to spot that navy-blue hair of his. And his hair was pretty flashy. Anyone could see it within miles. She pouted for a second. Had he forgotten he was supposed to come get her? Or maybe…maybe he'd gotten busy with some other person. And what if this person was a girl? Her eyes widened in horror at the thought just as a pair of hands slid over her eyes._

_"Guess who?"_

_She rolled her eyes and grabbed at the hands, turning around to face him. "Athrun, you're so stupid. Of course I know it's you."_

_He smiled. "How'd you know?"_

_"Because I know your voice, you idiot." She yanked her arms out of his grasp and saw his face falter a bit._

_"What's wrong?"_

_Cagalli stuck out her tongue at him and turned around in a haughty manner. "I thought you ditched me!"_

_He blinked, his emerald eyes holding confusion. "But how could you think that? You know I'd never ditch you."_

_She turned around. "Well, how was I supposed to know that? I couldn't find you after I got off the bus! Usually, you're always here to – mph!"_

_Suddenly, his mouth was covering hers, silencing her. She blinked in surprise but before she could kiss him back, he had already pulled away._

_Cagalli flushed, fully aware of the many pairs of eyes on her. They were, after all, still at the bus stop with plenty of other people. She grabbed his wrist and stomped over to an emptier area. "What was that for?" she hissed._

_He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just to shut you up." His grin widened. "Plus, I really wanted to kiss you."_

_"You're not allowed to kiss me!"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm not? What, does being your boyfriend of three years still not give me the permission?"_

_"NO."_

_"You know, you're overreacting."_

_"No, I'm not."_

_Athrun only gave her a kind smile and she flushed again, looking down and biting her lip._

_"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know how you put up with me. I'm such a bad person."_

_He pulled her into a hug, despite her protests, and whispered, "No, you're not. You're my girlfriend and I love you to death, okay?" He felt her stiffen as he said those last words but he ignored it. _

_Many months ago, Cagalli had told him that she loved him, and he had responded in the worst way possible. He had told her he wasn't sure yet. But unexpectedly, Cagalli hadn't slapped him or punched him or done anything physically harming to him. Instead, she had just nodded and silently left. _

_Cagalli tensed when he heard what he'd said. Her heart made a little leap, just a tiny leap, as she wondered if he really meant it. She opened her mouth to question him, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along towards his dorm._

_"Come on," Athrun said, "Time's a wasting and I want to hang out with you as much as I can."_

_When Cagalli arrived at the dorm, Athrun was no longer pulling her along. In fact, his hand seemed to have a little tinge of red, something Cagalli felt no guilt for. He should've known she hated being pushed around like some baby._

_Athrun walked up to the front desk, getting ready to sign her in just like the university policy stated._

_The receptionist looked up, took one glance at both Athrun and Cagalli, and said in a bored tone, "Athrun Zala signing in guest Cagalli Yula Attha. Right?"_

_There was a pause where Athrun and Cagalli exchanged glances. "Er…yes." He still looked perplexed. "Um, if you don't mind my asking, how'd you know who she is?"_

_The girl simply took out numerous sheets, presumably the guest sign-in sheets of the previous days, and every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Athrun could read:_

_Resident: Athrun Zala_

_Room: 324_

_ID Number: 283946529_

_Guest: Cagalli Yula Attha_

_ID Number: 191008790_

_Every day for those three days held the same number. Athrun only nervously chuckled as the girl gave him a piercing glance, before he grabbed Cagalli's wrist (for the nth time that day) and dragged her along. He didn't release her until they were safely in his room._

_"Heh," she said. "Do I really come here this often? I mean, it's only three days a week. Honestly, the girl probably thinks we're married or – Athrun?" She peered at his face, wondering what was going on. Her eyes widened as she noticed his line of vision. Her arm. He was staring at her arm. Oh no!_

_Quickly, she tugged down her sleeve, hoping to cover it up, but it was too late. The sudden movement snapped him out of his trance and now his accusing eyes were on her._

_"W – what's that?"_

_"What's what?" she asked nervously. Oh no, he wasn't supposed to find out about it! At least, not until later!_

_"Your arm."_

_She held her arm behind her. "I don't know what you mean."_

_He reached behind her but she backed up. "Cagalli, your arm. Can I see it?"_

_"No."_

_"Why not?"_

_"There's nothing to see."_

_"Cagalli!" He snatched one wrist and pushed her against the wall, trying to get a hold of her other arm, but she was struggling. "Cagalli, I only want to see it!"_

_"No! You can't see it! Stop it!" she shouted. "Stop, I don't want you to see it, I don't want you to see it." She continued repeating the words as she slid down the wall in tears._

_Athrun's heart was beating fast with worry. Just what was going on with his girlfriend? Everything had been fine just minutes before. What had gone wrong? He knelt down and kissed her forehead, wiping away her tears. "Cagalli, I just want to see it. I'm really worried about you, okay? Can I see it?"_

_She only shook her head and mumbled something incoherent, but she didn't seem to be putting up a fight anymore._

_He took this advantage to take hold of the arm in question and push up her sleeve. There, just like he'd seen before, were the many bruises that covered her arm. Swallowing hard, he took her other arm and pushed up that sleeve too, only to reveal the same thing._

_"Cagalli," he whispered to her downcast head. "What's going on? Is someone hurting you? Has someone been beating you?"_

_She shook her head slowly._

_"Then what? Where are these bruises coming from?" No answer. He put a finger under her chin and lifted it up, shocked to see her eyes closed but brimming with tears. "Please tell me. Don't leave me hanging like this."_

_She opened her eyes a crack and her tears began to flow freely. "I have cancer," she whispered in a barely audible voice._

_He froze. "What?"_

_Cagalli pushed him away and stood up quickly. "I have cancer, okay!" she exclaimed. "I already said it! I have leukemia! Do you want me to say it more?"_

_"I – I – " Athrun stuttered, but he was at a loss for words. Cagalli had cancer. His girlfriend of three years had cancer. Cancer killed people. Lots of people. Was cancer going to kill Cagalli? He didn't want that. He wouldn't let it happen. His mind briefly flashed to the gift he had wanted to give her for their anniversary tomorrow, but then something else came to his mind. _

_"Wait, you knew about this?"_

_"Of course I knew about this!" she snarled. "It's my body we're talking about here!"_

_Anger and hurt welled up inside of him at the thought that she had kept it a secret from him. "Then why didn't you tell me about it?! How long have you known?"_

_"A few weeks now."_

_"And you still hadn't decided to tell me?" he yelled. "When were you going to tell me, after you died suddenly and left me all alone?" he added sarcastically._

_"No!" she exclaimed in a horrified tone._

_"Then why didn't you tell me? I'm your fricken boyfriend, for goodness' sake!"_

_"I didn't want you to worry!"_

_"I'm worried anyway! Who wouldn't worry?" Athrun let out an exasperated sigh. "This is just great. My girlfriend, whom I've been dating for_ three years_, has cancer, decided she couldn't trust me with that kind of information, and was going to selfishly leave me out of the loop for God knows how long!"_

_She recoiled at his outburst, stared at him for a few seconds, before she ran out of the room._

_He remained standing there, shocked at the words that had come out of his mouth, and sank to his feet. "What the hell did I just do?"_

"He thinks I don't trust him," she whispered to herself. "And he thinks I'm selfish." His words continued to run through her head, over and over again until she thought she was going to lose her mind. What a day. She had cancer, her final exams were coming up, and tomorrow was her three year anniversary with Athrun. And the two were not quite on speaking terms at all. Pitiful. She was crying over a guy, something she had vowed not to do when she was younger. But that was before she'd met him. And his wonderful presence had made her pitiful. She wiped her eyes and hoped she didn't look like she'd been crying.

Cagalli glanced in awe at the fountain that was situated in the middle of the pond. There were a few dim lights near the bottom of the fountain, giving the pond an extremely romantic aura. If only he were here. If only he didn't hate her. If only she wasn't so pathetic.

Footsteps sounded behind her and seconds later, she no longer felt the pounding drops of rain on her back. Hesitantly, she glanced up and noticed a dark jacket covering her head. Turning around, she pushed past the jacket and almost fell over in surprise to see Athrun's indifferent expression.

"Athrun!"

"Hi." He gestured at his jacket. "Sorry about that. I lost my umbrella," he said awkwardly.

She shook her head, telling him she didn't need it. "What are you doing here?" she asked, as he took back his jacket and walked around the bench to face her.

He shrugged. Neither of them said anything, as she gazed at the fountain and he at the ground. Soon the only sound that could be heard was the pouring of the rain, quickly leaving him just as drenched as she was. "I missed you."

Her eyes shot up to meet his. Then Athrun held out his hand. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

She stared at his hand for a moment before slowly taking it.

They were silent for a few minutes as they walked side by side, following the shape of the pond.

Finally, he said, "I'm sorry."

She immediately shook her head. "No, I should be the one who's sorry. I should've told you what was going on."

"Yeah. You should've."

Cagalli shoved her hands into her pockets. "I know. But – I didn't want you to think any less of me. Because, you know…cancer's a bad thing and…"

"And you thought you'd be a worse person because you have it?" he asked, bewildered. "Cagalli, I could never think less of you. Cancer doesn't make anyone ugly."

"But I'm going to have to have chemotherapy and you know that'll make me lose my hair."

"You don't have that much hair to begin with," he joked, his eyes glinting.

"Shut up," she muttered, punching him lightly on the arm, but she could feel a grin tugging on her own lips.

"I'm sorry too, though. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I said that." Athrun's eyes followed the fountain as they walked near it. "I know you trust me. And you're not selfish. I was selfish. I was just – all of a sudden, I was afraid I'd lose you and…I just said stuff without thinking."

She offered a weak smile. "So, you forgive me?"

"If you forgive me."

"Okay."

"So what's going to happen now? Are you going to be in the hospital more?"

Cagalli bit her lip but nodded. "They're going to give me chemotherapy soon, because radiation didn't work."

"I see."

A few more moments passed by. "Are – are you going to come visit me?"

Athrun looked at her in surprise. "Of course I am! What'd you think I'd do? Ditch you right after you get in the hospital?"

_Yes_. "Uh, no," she said instead, embarrassed by her own question. Stupid her. Even now. Even after all the things he'd said to her, how could she think he would leave her?

"I won't ditch you. I'm going to come visit you every day, as much as I can. I'll be with you forever, okay? You know I love you too much to let you go."

Cagalli's insides froze. This was the second time he'd said it. Did he really mean it?

Suddenly, Athrun stopped in his tracks. "Hey, Cagalli."

"What?"

"How many times have we circled this pond now?"

"Um, I don't know. Three? Four?"

"Three. I counted."

Cagalli gave her boyfriend a disbelieving look. "And you were counting because…?"

"What's this pond called?"

"Passion Puddle."

"Right, and didn't you know?" He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face the fountain she had thought was romantic moments ago. "The legend goes, 'If a couple from different campuses walk around this pond together three times, then it means they'll always be together forever.'"

She blinked. What was he getting at? "So?"

"So…" he said in a light tone. "What's this?" He shoved a small box in front of her face in a teasing manner.

Her eyes grew wide and she whirled around to face him. "Athrun! Are you serious?"

He chuckled. "You tell me."

Her face started to glow radiantly and her mouth opened to say something, but then she closed her mouth and worry and uneasiness replaced the happiness. "Even – even if I have cancer and might…?"

Athrun ducked his head down and kissed his girlfriend. "You'll make it out of this just fine."

"Because I love you."

"I trust you."

"And I believe in you."

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So...how was that? Please drop a review! All you fanfic readers and writers should know by now that reviews make everybody happy! I hope neither of them were completely OOC. I tried hard to stick to their personalities in GS, but keep in mind that they're around 21 years old now and they have definitely become more mature since then. 

**AirStriker**


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